Anti-CAA activist Akhil Gogoi in a letter from jail on Tuesday alleged physical and mental torture in custody and claimed he was offered ‘instant bail’ by the NIA interrogators if he joined either the RSS or the BJP. The letter released by Mr. Gogoi’s Raijor Dal said he was taken to Delhi on December 18, 2019, without the court’s permission. Mr. Gogoi claimed he was offered money for an NGO and threatened also.
During the interrogation, the NIA officials offered him instant bail if he joined the RSS, the letter claimed.
“When I was arguing against the insulting offer, they came out with another proposal of joining the BJP. They said I could contest the Assembly against a vacant seat and become a minister," Gogoi claimed.
ADVERTISEMENT
The RTI activist also alleged that he was offered Rs 20 crore to start an NGO by leaving the peasant body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and work against conversion of Assamese people into Christianity.
"When I did not accept any of their proposals, they offered me a meeting with the chief minister and an influential minister of Assam. I turned down that too," Gogoi said.
He alleged that when he accepted none of the NIA offers, he was called a "disobedient citizen" as charged in extreme cases.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I was threatened with dire consequences if I don't accept their proposals. Death threats also came. I was threatened with at least 10 years of imprisonment. With so much physical and mental torture, I became restless on the night of December 20," Ggogi wrote.
He was admitted to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital for treating COVID-19 and remains there for other ailments.
"I was threatened with dire consequences if I don't accept their proposals. Death threats also came. I was threatened with at least 10 years of imprisonment.
"With so much physical and mental torture, I became restless on the night of December 20," Ggogi wrote.
The NIA had arrested him in December 2019 for his alleged role in violent anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests. He was admitted to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital for treating COVID-19 and remains there for other ailments.
Cheap politics, says BJP
BJP spokesperson Rupam Goswami said, “These are baseless allegations...nothing but cheap politics.”
The letter was issued just four days before the polling starts in Assam and it is done only to gain votes.
"However, the people of Assam have understood what Akhil Gogoi is. Assamese people are very mature. Nobody will vote for him and he will lose his deposit," he added.
Sivasagar constituency from where Gogoi is contesting, is going for polls in the first phase on March 27. PTI TR KK BDC BDC